All Roslyn Village incumbents were re-elected at the March 16 elections. But the evening was not without some suspense, as a well-organized write-in campaign made for a surprisingly close mayoral vote.

Official election results gave the incumbent mayor, Janet Galante, 140 votes, while the write-in vote for Historic District Board chairman Craig Westergard netted 94 votes. The mayor's race had three other write-in votes.

Trustee John Durkin and Deputy Mayor Nolan Myerson were both re-elected to two-year terms with, respectively, 203 and 188 votes. Trustee Louise McCann was elected to a one-year term with 186 votes. In the two-year term race, there were 29 write-in votes, with Morgan Fisher collecting 15 votes and Mr. Westergard seven.

Prior to the Feb. 9 deadline for new parties to file petitions, no slate of candidates had come forward to challenge the Clock Tower Party, whose candidates included all re-elected incumbents.

But unbeknownst to the incumbents, a write-in campaign for Mr. Westergard would soon take motion. According to the candidate, the write-in campaign hit full stride within a week of the March 16 vote. Mr. Westergard was aided by volunteers who made phone calls, knocked on doors, posted flyers and distributed pencils with the candidate's name on them.

Asked why he mounted the campaign, Mr. Westergard would only say he has had "disagreements regarding policy issues" with the mayor. However, he would not specify those issues, only adding that with the election over it was time to work together with the board of trustees to resolve the disagreements that caused him to run in the first place. In the meantime, Mr. Westergard stated his desire to call the mayor and state his congratulations over her re-election. Mayor Galante is currently on vacation and could not be reached for comment.

A 10-year resident of the village, Mr. Westergard has been on the Historic District Board for the past seven years. He was appointed chairman by Mayor Galante four years ago, a fact that probably explains the surprise village officials felt over the write-in campaign. Mr. Westergard noted that he has been involved in village affairs during the entire time he has lived in Roslyn and that he will remain "committed to the village" regarding future issues. But following his strong showing, Mr. Westergard called for a "time of reconciliation" between village officials and his renegade candidacy.